Refrigerating apparatus



9 193. .1. A. Ma LEAN 2,1738

REFRIGERAT ING APPARATUS Filed April 12, 1937 l N V E N T O R 1,012]? AMacZQa Z HIS ATTORNEY.

P'atentecl Oct. 3 1, 1939 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATING APPARATUS John A. MacLean, Phillipsburg, N. J., assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, Jersey City, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 12, 1937, Serial No. 136,387

3 Claims. (Cl. sz-zi This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus, and more particularly to refrigerating apparatus of the type in which a liquid refrigerant is cooled by partial vaporization.

An object of the invention is to reduce the space requirements of refrigerating apparatus while maintaining refrigeration capacity and operating efliciency.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange the parts of a. refrigerating construction as to require only low head roomt Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing in which like numerals denote like parts,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, of refrigerating apparatus constructed in accordance with the practice of the invention,

Figure 2 is a top view, partly in section, 01

the refrigerating apparatus, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a float-controlled switch used in the refrigerating apparatus.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the invention is shown embodied in a water-vapor refrigerating system comprising a closed evaporator vessel I wherein water, -or other liquid, is subjected to the action of a vacuum to be partially vaporized and cooled, an evacuator 2 to remove Vapor from the vessel and to produce the vacuum therein, and a removal pump 3 to impel cooled liquid from the vessel to a place of use (not shown).

The parts so far described are of conventional types, and, as heretofore used, the evacuator has been superimposed on the evaporator and the removal pump has been positioned below the evaporator, thus rendering the, overall height of the apparatus considerably in excess of the height of the evaporator. If the available head room at the place of installation is limited, such a construction is at an immediate disadvantage for its height cannot be materially reduced without sacrificing refrigeration capacity and operating efficiency. In the practice of the present invention, however, these disadvantages are overcome and a structure is produced in which the- 66 nected to the top and bottom, respectively, of the side wall a. The opposite side of the vertical leg is closed at the top by a vertical side wall I spaced from and parallel to the wall 4 and depending from the top wall to a point intermediate' the top and bottom walls 5 and 6, but opens 5 into the horizontal leg of the vessel below the side wall I.

The horizontal leg of the vessel is closed at the bottom by the bottom wall 6, at the top by a horizontal wall 8 connected to the bottom of the 19 side wall I and at the side by a vertical wall 9 parallel to walls and l and connected to the ends of the horizontal walls 6 and 8. Vertical spaced end walls 10, to which all the other walls are connected, are L-shaped to conform to the 15 shape of the vessel and serve to close the ends of the vessel.

The top 8 of the horizontal leg of the vessel is at a considerably lower elevation than the top 5 of the vertical leg and, in the present instance, 20 serves to define a vapor outlet IE from the vessel and as a support in the horizontal plane of the vessel to which the evacuator 2 is in part afiixed in a position adjacent the sidewall l and in the longitudinal plane of the vessel. The difference 25 in elevation between the top walls 5 and 8 is preferably substantially the same as the height of the evacuator 2 which is shown herein as a cen trifugal compressor, and the evacuator is preferably of the type having a. bottom inlet l5 which 30 can be connected directly to the vapor outlet M.

A motor I6 is connected in any suitable way to drive the evacuator 2 and-is preferably horizontally aligned with the evacuator and positioned in the longitudinal plane of the vessel- I. able means shown as a horizontal stand I! which is on a level with and connected at one end to the lateral length of the apparatus nor to the height of the apparatus.

The vessel l is provided with a vertical transverse partition 2l rising from the bottom wall 6 and spaced between the side walls 4 and l to co operate with the wall i and define a vaporization Suitv space II and a refrigerant outlet well I2 in the vertical leg of the vessel.

A refrigerant is admitted to the vessel through suitable means such as a perforated header 22 extending transversely across the vessel in the space II, above the well I2 and near the top wall 5, and is preferably sprayed toward the adjacent side wall 4. The liquid, vaporizing and cooling as it falls, collects in the well I2 for delivery to an outlet 23 in the side 4 near the bottom of the well and to the inlet of the pump 3 which is connected to the outlet 23 and mounted beside the vessel I on a level with the bottom thereof.

The height of the vertical leg of the vessel I will be great enough to provide suillcient depth of liquid in the well I2 for providing the static head necessary for efficient operation of the pump 3, and to provide a suiliciently large space II between the liquid in the well I2 and the header 22 for maintaining refrigeration capacity and eflicient vaporization of the incoming liquid.

The partition 2I also terminates short of the top wall 5 of the vessel I and cooperates therewith and with the walls 6, I, 8 and 9 to define a vapor outletpassage I3 in the vertical and horizontal legs of the vessel and leading from the space II to the vapor outlet I4. The vapor passage I3 is thus within the horizontal plane ofthe vessel and is L-shaped to extend under the evacuator 2.

The passage I3 will serve as a trap for separating liquid from the vapor prior to its entrance to the evacuator 2, for, vapor drawn from the space I I by the evacuator must first pass downwardly through the vertical leg of the passage into its horizontal leg and then pass upwardly through the outlet I4 into the evacuator. The change in direction of the vapor flow causes the liquid to be hurled from the vapor stream to the bottom of the vapor passage wherein it is collected.

Liquid will also collect on the side wall I and be drained therefrom. To prevent such liquid from falling into the vapor flowing into the horizontal leg of the passage I3 and being again picked up by such vapor, suitable means such as a small trough 39 may be provided at the bottom of the wall I. The trough will extend transversely across the vessel I and will preferably be open at each end near the end walls I0 to drain into the bottom of the passage I3.

Condensate from the condenser 20 may, if desired, be drained through a trap (not shown) into the bottom of the passage I3 and all of the ,liquid maybe discharged into the well I2 to obviate loss of liquid from the system and to obviate flooding of the vapor passage. In the present instance liquid is conveyed from the bottom of the passage I3 through an outlet 24 near the bottom of the side wall 9 to a pump 25, the outlet of which is connected to a pipe 26 which enters the vessel I .and delivers into the well I2.

The pump 25 is supported on a level with the bottom of the evaporator and is preferably driven by an electric motor 21 receiving electricity from wires 28, and the circuit of these wires is controlled by a float-controlled switch actuated by the liquid in the bottom of the vapor passage I3.

The float-controlled switch is shown in detail in Figure 3 and comprises a closed bulb 29 into one end of which the wires 23 extend and in which a small quantity of mercury 33 is retained for connecting the wires 28 when the bulb is tilted at one angle and for breaking the connection when tilted in another angle.

The bulb 23 is mounted on a lever 3| in a casing 32, and one end of the lever is fulcrumed in the casing. The other end of the lever is pivotally connected to a link 33 which extends through suitable packing in the wall of the casing 32 into an adjacent casing 34 wherein the link is pivotally connected to a lever 33 carrying a float 38.

The casing 34 will be mounted beside the vessel adjacent the bottom of the passage I3, and

pipes 36 and 31 in communication with the lower regions of the vapor passage I3, as indicated in Figure l in dotted lines, open into the bottom and top, respectively, of the casing 34. These pipes serve to admit liquid and vapor to the casing for actuating the float 38 and the switch 23 in accordance with the level of the liquid trapped in the bottom of the passage I3.

The eifect of the float 33 is to tilt the switch 29 and start the motor 21 and the pump 25 for drawing liquid from the passage I3 whenever the depth of the liquid in the passage exceeds a predetermined degree, and to stop the pump when the level drops. Since the water in the trap portion of the passage I3 has also been cooled by vaporization, discharge thereof into the well I2 will have no'material eflect on the temperature of the liquid in the well nor will it interfere with the normal operation of the machine.

From the foregoing description it will be ap parent that an evaporator is provided having suflicient height for efficient operation, and that the pumps, evacuator and condenser do not add appreciably to the height of the apparatus. A compactly arranged structure is thus produced without sacrificing refrigeration capacity or operating efficiency, and the machine may be easily installed in places where the available space, and especially head room is limited.

The arrangement as shown is, however, only one of a number of modifications which might be devised and which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. It is advantageous, however, to have the vapor trap passage I3 defined by walls of the evaporator vessel I and the evacuator in part supported thereby for the number of separate parts and the expense of construction can thereby be kept at a minimum.

I claim:

1. In refrigerating apparatus, an evaporator, an inlet for liquid to the evaporator, a well in the evaporator to receive the liquid, a vapor evacuator for the evaporator, means at a side and in a horizontal plane of the evaporator defining a vapor passage from the evaporator to the evacuator and forming a trap in the passage for separating liquid from the vapor, said means also serving as a support for the evacuator, and means including a pump to discharge liquid from the trap in said passage into said well.

2. In refrigerating apparatus, an evaporator, an inlet for liquid to the evaporator, a well in the evaporator to receive the liquid, a vapor evacuator for the evaporator, means at a side and in a horizontalplane of the evaporator defining a vapor passage from the evaporator to the evacuator and forming a trap in the passage for separating liquid from the vapor, said means also serving as a support for the evacuator, and float-controlled means including a pump on a level with the bottom of the evaporator and acting responsively to the amount of liquid in the passage to discharge such liquid into said well. I

3. In refrigerating apparatus, an L-shaped evaporator vessel having bottom, top and side walls, a transverse partition in the vertical leg of the vessel cooperating with said walls to define a well in the vertical leg of the vessel and an L-shaped vapor passage in the vertical and horizontal legs of the vessel to act as a trap for separating liquid from the vapor, the well and passage communicating at the top of the vertical leg of the vessel, a vapor outlet from the passage in the top of the horizontal leg of the vessel, an evacuator having a bottom inlet connected to the vapor outlet and supported by the horizontal leg of the vessel, an inlet for liquid to the vessel and delivering into the well, an outlet for liquid at the bottom of he well, a pump on a level with the bottom of the vessel and connected to the last said outlet, and means including a pump on a level with the bottom of the vessel and connected to draw liquid from the bottom of the passage and discharge the same into said well.

JOHN A. MACLEAN. 

